Passport
Photograph ©2019 by Brian Cohen.
Brian Cohen·
Safety and Security
··7 Comments·3 min read

First United States Passport Issued With an X Gender Marker

This milestone is part of an effort of inclusion by the Department of State of the United States.

As a milestone in its move to update its procedures to allow applicants of passports to “self-select” their genders of either male, female, Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or intersex, the Department of State of the United States has issued its first passport with an X gender marker.

First United States Passport Issued With an X Gender Marker

Passport
Photograph ©2019 by Brian Cohen.

“I am pleased to announce that the Department will be taking further steps toward ensuring the fair treatment of LGBTQI+ U.S. citizens, regardless of their gender or sex, by beginning the process of updating our procedures for the issuance of U.S. Passports and Consular Reports of Birth Abroad”, according to an official press statement which was released on Wednesday, June 30, 2021 from Antony J. Blinken, who is the secretary of state of the United States. “The Department has begun moving towards adding a gender marker for non-binary, intersex, and gender non-conforming persons applying for a passport or CRBA. We are evaluating the best approach to achieve this goal. The process of adding a gender marker for non-binary, intersex, and gender non-conforming persons to these documents is technologically complex and will take time for extensive systems updates. The Department will also be working closely with its interagency partners to ensure as smooth a travel experience as possible for the passport holder” — regardless of their gender identity — to promote the freedom, dignity, and equality of all people, which includes LGBTQI+ persons.

The federal agency “continues the process of updating its policies regarding gender markers on U.S. passports and Consular Reports of Birth Abroad (CRBAs) to better serve all U.S. citizens, regardless of their gender identity”, Ned Price — who is a spokesperson for the Department of State — said, according to this official press statement which was released earlier today, Wednesday, October 27, 2021. “We look forward to offering this option to all routine passport applicants once we complete the required system and form updates in early 2022.”

You may select the gender to which you identify when applying for your passport — and medical certification or a letter from a physician is no longer required to do so — even if the gender you select does not match the gender on your birth certificate, previous passport, official identification which was issued by your state, or other citizenship or identity documents.

To request a new passport with a different gender than the one you have on your current passport — or if you are applying for your first passport — simply submit a new application and select your preferred gender marker. Follow the steps to learn which form to submit. You can select either “M” or “F”, which are the gender markers currently available, as a gender marker for non-binary, intersex, and gender non-conforming persons will eventually be added as soon as possible. The exact date as to when that gender marker will be added is unknown at the time this article was written.

Updates and information on the process — as well as any interim solutions — will be provided at the official Internet web site of the Bureau of Consular Affairs of the Department of State of the United States.

Countries around the world which already have an option to choose a third gender on passports include Australia, Canada, Denmark, Germany, India, Malta, Nepal, New Zealand, and Pakistan — with M, F, and X as the most common options.

FInal Boarding Call

passport stamps
Photograph ©2016 by Brian Cohen.

These changes are part of a global effort to include people who do not identify themselves as the gender with which they were born.

Commercial airlines have been striving to ensuring greater inclusiveness to their customers and employees in recent years; and adding gender choices is not the only action on which they have embarked. For example, an announcement from Alaska Airlines pledged that the airline will hire more black female pilots by the year 2025.

See also

Whenever I write an article here at The Gate and I do not definitively know the gender of the person about whom I am writing or to whom I am referring, I keep the article as gender-neutral as possible to respect the identity of the person.

I also believe in respecting the identity of any person — even to the point of ensuring that I spell or pronounce the name of the person properly — and not wanting to personally alienate anyone.

Other articles pertaining to striving for greater inclusiveness include:

All photographs ©2016 and ©2019 by Brian Cohen.

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7 Comments

  1. The dumbest thing I ever heard. Definitely first-world problems. Gender is and should be binary. No matter what. If you want to get surgery done, do it and stick with it. What about race, can I call myself than also black, hispanic, latino, white, or whatever I want not because I am actually that.
    So what about my eye colors, height and weight. I want to change that all too to something different. I want to weigh less and want to have green eyes. Thats why I am wearing contacts. Just to have green eyes not because I have bad vision.
    What about citizenship, can I select that too in the future as it pleases me. So why don’t give me a US passport and let me be a citizen of Japan, Australia, Antarktika.
    Wait, I want to have my own country with my own passport. While I am at it. I stop paying taxes, because I am my own country now.

    All the people can be what they want to be in their spare time.

    I think the right move forward is just have an X at every field in the passport and just the black outline of a headshot as your passport picture. So I can be whatever I want to be when I enter a different country 🙂 this is the future.

    Reply

    1. What’s dumb is Alaska pledging to hire more Black female pilots. People are not hired for being competent but because their noses, jaws, skull shapes, orbital sockets, and hair textures are different. Whites will never have a chance if we don’t start advocating for our race and actively repel those who wish to disempower and disenfranchise us. The only concern of white people should be white people.

      Reply

      1. That’s a pretty vile comment. Race is made up and has no basis in science, and therefore does not actually exist, so complaining about this kind of hiring could be justified. But you are advocating to make the problem worse. Racism, unlike race itself, does exist.
        By the way, I’m pretty sure most pilots are considered “white” by people who believe in such nonsense.
        I’m also fairly sure that these “black” pilots (why is “black” always capitalized these days? it’s an adjective) are competent and underwent the same training. As you are aware it is hard for capable pilots to get offered a good job, and there is plenty of discrimination going on, and sometimes a quota is the only thing that helps break the cycle.

        As for the article, I would advise anyone against choosing the “X” option, because it might mean that they can’t fly with a whole bunch of airlines, or might not be able to travel to certain countries over the next decade.
        Why not drop gender from the passport? I don’t really see why people have to be asked for their gender at all. The other info (height, birth date) is far, far more useful in positively identifying someone than gender.

        Reply

  2. Glad to see the DHS dedicating critical resources to something important like this at a time when they’re woefully understaffed and citizens are now waiting MONTHS for a passport.

    Reply

  3. That’s nice to hear. This is not a story of Christian bakers being forced to bake cakes or being bankrupted or people forced to violate their conscience. It’s a simple different lettering on a government form or airline document that violates the rights of no one unlike the above.

    People legitimately are born with brain chemistry that doesn’t match the physical body. It’s a good thing these conflicted souls are labelled and marked as different. They are different. They are not normal people. We should recognize that without the propaganda that tends to accompany the lgbtqa movement.

    Reply

    1. right, because it’s sooo haaard to write two names on a cake and sell it for money, even if you don’t like the people you’re selling it to or think they shouldn’t be allowed to get married. The horror!
      I’m sorry if I have no sympathy. There are many laws that make it illegal to not serve somebody. That’s because there used to be restaurants all over the country that said things like “no blacks, dogs or irish allowed”
      You can easily picture a hypothetical situation in which you (perhaps because of the color of your hair or because you’re bald or whatever) are not allowed to shop somewhere, and you might be pretty upset by that, don’t you think?
      Just sell the damn cake.
      And also — sorry, but a baker is not an artist who needs to enjoy “artistic freedom”. That’s bunk.

      Reply

  4. China, Russia, the entire middle east and many African countries are so thankful for this change. They can now easily identify Americans with mental illness and deny them entry.

    Reply

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